Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Back in the Saddle Again

Well, after a long(and unintentional) 2 week vacation from painting over the holidays I'm back in the swing and getting some work done that I feel satisfied with. This is a new piece titled Frost Bite and is 20 x 24 inches. Just finished it today!

I occasionally battle with myself about my painting schedule. If I can't solve a certain problem in a piece and get stuck I wont lay down any paint. I end up sitting in the studio staring at everything for hours. At least these last few years I've had the will power to keep myself there and not get distracted with snacks or house chores. OK sometimes there is a little distraction - but for the most part, I've been pretty good about it. Except for this Christmas/New Years Holiday. I can honestly say its been about 5 years since I went that long without painting. I am terrified of loosing my discipline. DeKooning never took vacation. Many of the old greats didn't. Not that I am like them at all - but I would like to be great. For those two weeks I was needing but hating taking time off. It was hard and all my relationships suffered my mood swings and irritability. However, as I think about it now, I'm glad I did it. My creative juices needed to replenish. I did have some performance anxiety getting back into it but now I just feel refreshed.